"Good morning," Jean-Luc said as soon as he sensed her awake. Beverly blinked, sitting up in bed. She looked up to find him stood by the bed with a tray. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you… are you still upset with me? How do I make it up to you?
"Morning," she said, covering a yawn. There is no need to make anything up to me, she assured him. You mean more to me than how much I'm angry with you.
Well, that's a comfort to know. They shared a smile. He went and sat on the bed with her, placing the tray between them. Decaf coffee and jam toast.
"So the range is far enough for you to reach the replicator while I'm here, then?" Beverly said between mouthfuls.
"Yes, it seems we're adapting," he agreed.
Where do we go from here? Neither knew, both feared it and yet could barely stand waiting! The anticipation of what could be – it was tantalising! Adapting, but into what? And at what cost?
"Any word on the investigation?" she queried.
Nothing yet, he admitted. "Will has been in contact with Starfleet." It seems that we can't be changed back to our older appearances.
Could be worse, she teased, eyeing his hairline.
You don't look so bad yourself, he responded and immediately blushed when she laughed. Sorry…
"At least I'll be able to keep up with Deanna more, now," she sighed merrily. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Well, I mean…" she started and took a bite of her toast. Now you're young again, what are things you wish you had done differently? Or things you can now do with this… extra time? "You have the chance to redo twenty years of your life. What will you do?" You always put family on the backburner for the sake of your career. But now, you have the chance to have both – like I did. She didn't intend to add the last part, but he heard it.
"I haven't thought about it," he replied gruffly, taking a sip of his coffee. What about you? What are your plans?
Beverly pierced her eyes in contemplation. There were so many things she could do now… Gosh, when I was this old I was being a single mother! "Invest some more time in my hobbies as I have been since Wesley was old enough," she finally declared.
"I look forward to seeing the results," Jean-Luc said sincerely. She smiled warmly at him as they continued eating in amicable silence. They were practically done when he sensed her sudden jabbing ache. Beverly?
"Dammit, I need to change the dermal regenerators again," she muttered, setting down her now empty cup and retrieving the medical case she had left beside the bed the night before.
Here, I'll help you, he offered before she even had to ask.
Her eyes crinkled at him again, "Thanks." Two sets of hands make for faster work. They headed into the bathroom together. She set up the case on the bench, pulling off her sweater to expose the remaining patches. None had leaked blood this time – a very good sign, Jean-Luc felt. "You know what to do with the back?" she double checked with him.
"Of course," he said. While she worked on the ones on her arm, chest and neck in the mirror, he changed all the ones on her back for her. Finished, she turned around and looked over her shoulder in the mirror to survey his handiwork.
"Thanks," she said happily, ducking forward and pecking his cheek before closing the case and pulling her sweater back on. Going back out into the main room she glanced at the chronometer. What?! "How long did I sleep for?!" she rounded on Jean-Luc in shock.
He raised his hands in defence. "You clearly needed your sleep, Beverly," he told her. You do seem much better this morning, he thought, relieved.
"It's almost midday!" The door beeped. They both turned to face it.
"Yes?" Jean-Luc spoke, lowering his arms. The door opened, revealing a timid looking nurse brandishing a tricorder. Wonderful, Jean-Luc closed his eyes to hide rolling them.
"Excuse me, captain, I was sent here to scan you and Dr Crusher and check your progress," the nurse explained.
"Alright," Jean-Luc said. I hope this is over quickly, he bristled while the nurse performed tricorder scans. They left as abruptly as they'd entered.
"Standard procedure," Beverly said, draping herself upon the lounge. Back to reading?
Unless there's something else you'd fancy doing. Beverly blinked up at him in surprise. It took him a moment before realising what he'd said. Blushing, he fumbled through apologies. They were once again interrupted by the beep of the doorbell. "What!" he snapped, still facing Beverly, believing it was the nurse returned.
The door opened. It seems we're quite popular today, Beverly teased him, looking over his shoulder. Puzzled, Jean-Luc turned as Will, Deanna, Geordi and Data stepped inside. He let out a sigh and Beverly could feel his embarrassment.
"We have the results from the investigation," Will explained. Jean-Luc waved for them all to sit, himself electing to stand and pace about as Geordi and Data explained all the finer details. But the crux of it was, the accident wasn't sabotage; it was an unanticipated result of the Enterprise's experiments in that nebula. They would be further researching it while they were on shore leave. "So as soon as the two of you have recovered, you're free to go on your shore leave."
"And what's the word from Starfleet?" Jean-Luc inquired. Geordi and Data looked to Riker while he shared a glance with Deanna.
That bad then, Beverly thought with a sigh.
Don't give up hope yet.
"We don't have a concrete answer yet on whether either of you will be allowed to go back to your previous duties," Will said in a low voice, avoiding their eyes. "There might not be an answer until after you've returned."
"Besides your psychic connection, I have sensed no other significant changes in brain function in either of you," Deanna chipped in. "And we expect the medical reports will show the same results."
"Thanks, Dee," Beverly said, reaching out and grasping her friend's hand a moment. At least we have a good group of friends fighting to keep us on the ship. Perhaps we should stay and help?
No, Jean-Luc thought with iron certainty. The best thing we can do is stay out of it. Otherwise we might get too involved and jeopardise our future careers even more than they are already. We'll go on the shore leave and see what Starfleet has to say when we get back.
You hate that idea.
So do you.
Well at least we can hate it together.
A/N: Despite how maddening they find each other at times, their friendship has still held firm, if not become stronger because of those times. Being apart for a decade didn't even stop it. Solid friendship they've got going there.
Thanks to sash queen of the jungle, spacekitten2700 and DancingDR for the reviews! And thanks for the feedback I've been PMed, I really appreciate it! I hope you all have a wonderful day!